New Shun 1730

"Japan is closed to the outside world and prohibits trade. If we can trade with it, it will not only benefit the people but also benefit the people."

"We can benefit from it and practice the navy at the same time. We are killing two birds with one stone."

As soon as his words fell, several Ping Zhangshi looked strange.

"Such things like this may lead to the Han Dynasty conquering Dawan. Moreover, although Japan is a small country, it was still unable to conquer the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasty in the past. Wanli's aid to the dynasty will shake the bones and even lead to the disaster of the Eastern Captives."

Liu Yu replied: "One moment and another moment. Isn't it because the Mongolian Yuan was unable to conquer Japan because it had no navy? Westerners can now reach Guangdong and Macau from 40,000 miles away. If they learn navigation skills, Japan will still be able to conquer Japan." Can’t go?”

"As long as we can use naval siege, we will be defeated in the long run. With Busan in Korea as a port, we only need three to five thousand elite troops, and with the speed of sea ships, we can disturb Nagasaki today and Edo tomorrow, and we cannot prevent them."

"Besides, Japan is a small country. Even if you want to move the border and ban the sea, you can't retreat fifty miles."

"Our government is a benevolent and righteous government. We do not cede territory or seek wealth. As long as Japan pays tribute and opens up trade, our government can protect Japan from Western invasion. Will they refuse such a good thing?"

"You may not be able to figure it out for the moment, but the sails of the navy arrive every three to five days. Within half a year, some smart people will figure it out. If the leader of the country can't figure it out, there will be others to help him figure it out."

"At that time, money and trade will continue to flow, and it will have no navy. It will definitely obey and no longer dare to be disobedient."

Li Gan had heard Liu Yu's threats about the future threat of Westerners at sea before. When he heard it again now, he thought to himself, isn't this a replica of what you said back then about Westerners threatening the country?

But compared to what was said back then, such as stopping water transportation and opening imperial examinations, this is much simpler. As long as Japan can pay tribute, trade, and is not allowed to build ships.

Since it pays tribute, it belongs to the vassal.

If the Westerners wanted to trade with Japan, and if they were threatened with military force, the Celestial Empire would certainly protect the vassals.

It does sound like it could be done.

Of course Li Gan knew that Japan was rich in silver and copper. Li Gan also knew about Japan's isolation.

It's just that he has never had the idea of ​​"forced trade".

Looking at this matter from Li Gan's perspective, there is another benefit.

Before Liu Yu, the Westerners threatened Southeast and scared him. According to Liu Yu, only 20,000 soldiers were enough.

If the country were to train its new army and navy in accordance with the Western military system, its size would threaten Japan with only about five thousand soldiers.

If Japan can be subdued with these troops, it will prove that Liu Yu's threats are not unfounded, but a real threat.

No matter what you say, the idea of ​​"building a navy with a navy" can at least be justified and makes sense.

At that time, the Zheng family could make the country rich by relying on Japan's trade. Japan had a lot of silver and copper. Now the country does not have enough copper to mint money. If trade could be opened up, it would indeed be profitable.

If you want to open it up to trade, you do need a navy.

Li Gan looked at the rest of the people, and the British man smiled slightly, thinking that Liu Yu was a treacherous man. He did not mention the customs affairs of Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, etc. to the West, but put the answer of "use a navy to support a navy" on Japan. .

That's a good idea.

Because the West is different from Japan. The West begs for trade, while Japan is closed to the outside world.

If you want to get more money from Western trade, you must either close the redundant customs and trade to facilitate management and tax collection; or you must follow the example of the Song Dynasty and have an official monopoly on trade.

No matter which point it is, it will cause uproar, violent fluctuations, and even corruption in Jiangnan.

But if we start from Japan, we can see real benefits on the one hand, which proves that it is feasible to support the navy with the navy; and on the other hand, we will not have to touch the interests of Jiangnan smugglers for the time being, and there will be no violent shocks.

It will be much simpler to use Japan to support the navy, and when the navy is successful, it will then enter Southeast Asia.

If we can directly fly to Japan and force Japan to open and close trade, will it still be a problem to transport grain and rice from the south?

If we can use sea transportation instead of water transportation, we can save a lot of expenses and alleviate the fatigue of the people.

From a general point of view, it makes sense for Japan to move the Sixth Division if it has not paid tribute for a long time.

The British Duke secretly approved, thinking that he is indeed a talented person. He said before that he would be ready within five years, but I am afraid it will take another five years.

In these ten years, there is no need to touch the interests of water transportation and Jiangnan smuggling, and it will not cause violent turmoil. It will be more feasible to wait until the navy has reached a certain level of success before dealing with the affairs in Jiangnan.

So he asked Liu Yu another question.

"You just talked about North Korea. This North Korea is not that North Korea. How will North Korea treat it?"

"Back to normal."

"If you want Japan to pay tribute, you have to control North Korea. Now that the chaos in North Korea has not subsided, our country should take this opportunity to increase its control over North Korea."

"A stationed angel can predict if something happens again in North Korea. Since North Korea is a vassal, if there is another brother-killing incident in the country, the heaven will have to deal with it. Otherwise, how can it be called enlightening the barbarians?"

"Secondly, I asked more about North Korea's state affairs and learned that North Korea once did not even use money and bartered for things, so that the people did not know that money could be used. The country does not mint money, so it can ask North Korea to use our money."

"Although our country is short of copper, if we control North Korea and go to Japan to pay tribute, there will be no shortage of copper. Let North Korea use our money to become a true vassal."

"Three, North Korea produces paper, ginseng, etc., and our country's raw silk and satin can be exchanged for paper ginseng. If the country can be opened to trade, the people of Shandong will have another way to survive. Trade between them is enough to settle down. ”

"Fourth, ask Korea to allow the Celestial Empire's navy to use its ports, one for supplies, two for training, and three, if there is a disaster in Qing and Yu, you can bypass Korea and immigrate to Nurgandusi to settle the border. Once the navy has a small success in the future, you can go to Japan from Busan and other places to make it pay tribute. In addition, if Korea changes, you can suppress it nearby so that there will be no ambitious rebels who will ascend to the throne of the Korean king."

Hearing this, the Duke of England thought to himself that I just want to increase control over Korea to avoid future troubles.

What you want is to completely control Korea and turn it into a vassal state?

But these requirements seem to be achievable.

Now Korea is in civil strife, and the Dashun court has been suppressing the issue of the new Korean king's enthronement.

It's just that they want to ask for more conditions.

If these conditions are added, the Korean king should be able to accept them. Otherwise, you can agree with the statement of the rebels in the south: the current Korean king took the throne by poisoning his brother.

It would be a pity if such a good opportunity is not used, according to Duke Ying.

Not a single soldier from the court is needed, and even going to Korea to confer the title does not cost a penny: according to the experience of the previous dynasty, at least 20,000 to 30,000 taels of silver can be bribed.

At worst, the court will not give officials this opportunity to make money this time, and they should be honest and incorruptible, showing the style of the Celestial Empire, and get this done.

With a little intimidation, Korea will accept it.

Duke Ying thought that Liu Yu had blackmailed Luosha in the northern border, and I have learned the art of blackmail.

The idea of ​​"making Korea use the money of the country" made Duke Ying feel that he was really old.

In terms of vision, he was not as good as this young man who could explain the causes and consequences of the Ming Dynasty's use of silver as a tax currency.

He knew that Korea did not have money and did not mint coins.

In the early years, the people basically returned to the level of bartering. According to the Korean envoys, the Korean people had even forgotten the concept that money could buy things.

At first, the British thought that Korea was crying poor, and was afraid that if it said it had money, the Celestial Empire would ask Korea to pay tribute in copper and silver.

But he sent people to inquire about the Korean musketeers who were recruited, and was convinced that the Korean tribute envoys were not crying poor, but really had not minted coins for many years.

In addition, Korea basically returned to the system where the two-class nobles controlled the government, and the place was small, so it was not as troublesome as the Celestial Empire to recruit civilians or collect physical goods, and there were indeed few places to use money.

The Korean tribute envoy once said: "The ignorant people don't know what money is. It has been 200 years since the last time money was used."

What's more, Korea forced the use of money for transactions, and even "ordered the people to bring fifty coins each, and those who didn't bring them were guilty", but it was useless.

The people of Korea didn't recognize money at all, had never touched money, and had no interest in money.

Therefore, "ordering to use money for transactions, whipping and mess, merchants couldn't do business, and complaints filled the streets", and the Korean minister who promoted money at that time was impeached and kicked out.

Although the use of money has been restored, it is still not enough.

The Dashun should bear the blame.

Following the instructions of Emperor Taizong, the country was not closed to the outside world and allowed overseas trade.

Although Japan was closed to the outside world, Dashun merchants still squeezed out a piece of the sky and snatched a lot of Japan's already small copper export share, and the rest was divided up by the Netherlands and other countries.

The trade of the Korean country was basically under the guise of tribute trade. When the tribute envoys came to Beijing, they brought some private goods or silver, bought Dashun silk and other things and brought them back, and then transferred them to Japan for trade.

But under Dashun's trade policy, domestic merchants could go directly to Japan for trade. The goods that Korea obtained in this way could not compete with those Dashun merchants who went directly to Japan for trade from Fujian.

Under the pressure, Korea could not trade copper.

Without copper, coupled with the strict prohibition of mining, and the fact that money has not been used since the chaos at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Korea really has not used money for many years.

If we can make Korea use Dashun's money, make Korea open trade and only trade with Dashun, make Korea allow Dashun's navy to dock and replenish in Korean ports, and let Dashun's angels stay in Korea... Such control is almost the same as a vassal state.

What is money?

Money is copper.

Copper is indeed lacking in the Celestial Empire, and it is not allowed to be exported.

But if we can control Korea, in the long run, we can use Korea as a springboard to solve the Japanese problem.

The Celestial Empire lacks copper, but Japan does not.

If Korea can be controlled, once the navy rises, won't Japan's copper belong to the Celestial Empire?

Such an opportunity is in front of us. If we don't take advantage of it, and think that the Celestial Empire is short of money, if we let Korea use the Celestial Empire's money, it will probably be even short of money... This is extremely short-sighted.

The British public thought that Liu Yu had basically given a solution to various problems in the policy theory, and it was basically certain that Liu Yu was a prudent person rather than a person who only talked about the general situation but had no means. He was about to ask the emperor whether to end this inquiry.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yu said, "Your Majesty, take the Korean and Japanese cases as examples. Apart from these two cases, there are other uses."

"I have read some and learned that in the last years of the Wanli reign of the previous dynasty, the customs tariff was 20,000 taels a year. Now our dynasty respects the teachings of Emperor Taizong and promotes trade. The customs of Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu, and merchants trade. Although the tariffs collected are eight times that of the previous dynasty, they are no more than 160,000 taels."

"How should the tariffs be set? How should taxes be collected? I think that reform is also needed. However, reforms should not be made rashly. We should take small places as samples and try them out."

"If it works, use it. If it doesn't work, don't use it."

"For trade with North Korea and Japan, we can try out the New Deal. If North Korea does not trade with us, Japan will be locked down. Not many people will benefit, and the impact will not be big. Even if the New Deal is ineffective, it will not shake the important land south of the Yangtze River."

"Therefore, I think that we should build a customs in Dengzhou, Shandong, to facilitate trade with Japan and Korea. We will ask about Western customs laws and use them as a sample for trial implementation."

"One as an experiment."

"Secondly, we can also cultivate some specialized talents for subordinate officials, or run schools based on the knowledge of subordinate officials and recruit children. If it is feasible in the future, it can be promoted in Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other customs."

"There is no tax collection there. On the one hand, there is smuggling. On the other hand, the subordinates must be bullying the superiors and the subordinates. The interests are profound. If we can use the trade between Japan and North Korea to cultivate a group of new students who are proficient in accounting accounts, they can go south in the future. There is no need to worry about being deceived by subordinate officials.”

"Therefore, my policy on the Nanyang and Western Regions is divided into twenty years."

"Five years."

"Established Wude Palace branch in Dengzhou, selected young people who were proficient in geometric surveying and mapping to learn from the foreigners. Build Western ships, and try to navigate to North Korea and Japan."

"Squeeze trade and obtain Japanese copper and silver."

"A new school was established in Dengzhou, and the sons of good families from the old Wuying who could not enter the Wude Palace were appointed to study the accounting of subordinates."

"With trade from Korea and Japan as supplement, it won't cost the court too much money."

"ten years."

"The navy is in rough shape, and the tax laws are changing for the first time."

"Lock Japan from Korea and ask them for the crime of not going to Korea. Force Japan to switch to trade and pay tribute."

"The navy also used the navy to carry immigrants from Qing and Henan to the land of Nuergandusi to immigrate to the border."

"Twenty years."

"The new customs tax law can be promoted, and the navy can compete with the Westerners in Southeast Asia, and then our maritime borders will be worry-free from now on."

"After that, it may be like the Han Dynasty conquered the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty protected Anxi, and our dynasty protected Nanyang. Then the strategy can be achieved."

Li Gan didn't wait for the others to express their stance, and said: "Good! What you are dealing with is very close to my heart. Please stand down."

The others said nothing, and Li Gan asked Liu Yu to step aside first.

As soon as Liu Yu went out, Li Gan asked the British Duke first.

"What do you think?"

The British official thought for a moment and said: "Anyone who makes money is just to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Wang Jinggong's method of increasing revenue is inconvenient for the people and difficult to promote. Liu Shouchang's method is to open a sweet well in the desert."

Regarding the pros and cons of Wang Anshi's reform, since Dashun used the Sanshe method, there was naturally some discussion. Although there is a saying that "ruling the world with scholar-bureaucrats, not with the common people", there is indeed a big problem.

It is an obvious reorganization based on ancient times, using the name of Zhou Rites, but practicing Legalist techniques, and it is also the same Legalist hegemony of Guanzi in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

Although Dashun said he was using both kings and tyrants, he really didn't dare to do so.

Jiangnan involves Dashun's stability, and it must not be touched until there is a feasible, certain and effective method.

Even if you know that the current taxes are definitely a big problem.

Originally, both Li Gan and the British Duke thought that Liu Yu would definitely start in Jiangnan when he said he wanted to build a navy and expand the South China Sea.

According to their thinking, the land should be inventoried, the gentry should pay grain, and the tariffs should be reformed. Otherwise, where would the money come from?

Unexpectedly, Liu Yu didn't mention Jiangnan at all, but instead mentioned Japan and North Korea, which no one expected, and made a big detour.

North Korea itself has no formal trade with Dashun, and all trade is smuggling. Even private trade by tribute missions is theoretically not allowed.

Japan is locked down, and its apparent trade volume is not very large.

Starting from these two places, the vital interests of the Jiangnan region are not touched: the North Korean smuggling group in the Liaodong region may be touched, but Liaodong is not Jiangnan, and there will be no major problems.

As for how to squeeze out trade volume from Japan, Li Gan was convinced that since Liu Yu said it, there must be a way. But this method...may not be convenient to talk about here.

This is all a conspiracy. You are clearly told to do this, but there is nothing you can do about it.

When it is done, it does not touch too many interests and there is almost no opposition. This is what the British call "opening a sweet well in the desert".

After the navy has basically taken shape, there is nothing you can do if you want to oppose it: the navy has taken shape, and the subordinates in the new training department have ensured that there will be no collusion of interests in the short term. When the time comes, they will suppress it with thunderous force. What can you do to me?

Liu Yu originally threatened Li Gan that India would be controlled by Westerners in at most thirty years, but now the solution he has given is that they can compete with each other in twenty years.

He could still afford to wait twenty years.

What the British Duke was most worried about was that Liu Yu followed Li Gan's impetuous and aggressive temperament and deliberately took great steps to win the favor of the Holy Family.

He will definitely not live for twenty years.

However, the thing that worried him the most now seemed that Liu Yu was very clear-headed, so he could be relieved.

So he said: "I think this son can be of great use."

This is a very high evaluation. In the previous admissions process, British public servants have never used the word "can be used". At most, they can only say "available".

Li Gan thought to himself that what the British government said was good and could indeed be of great use. It seems that I chose the right person.

Looking deeper, the problem of money in North Korea may have been caused by the Manchu and Qing Dynasties moving borders and banning seas. Because the border was moved and the sea was banned, North Korea, as a second-tier dealer, occupied the position of Chinese merchants, allowing North Korea to obtain enough copper to mint money.

In this time and space, because there is no border relocation or sea ban, North Korea, a second-rate dealer, will definitely not be able to steal the country's maritime merchants. Without copper, according to deduction, it should be impossible to mint money. Now that history has changed, we cannot but consider the butterfly effect.

At least North Korea’s middlemen have been beaten by Japan, so they dare not sell war horses and other things to Japan; but their own maritime merchants dare to smuggle war horses, samurai, horn bows, military books, etc. If North Korea can get the trade quota, it will be a miracle.